Few who enter this church by the handsome doorway at the base of the tower, the armorial ornamentation of which is worthy notice, will fail to admire the view which is afforded when standing beneath the noble western arch of the lower wall, by the handsome nave and chancel, lighted by a clerestory, and closed in by an open timber roof, the latter beautifully painted. There is a good deal to interest one within the church. There will be noticed a modern Rood screen across the chancel front, and originally there existed a very handsome screen of this character, access to which was gained by a small staircase on the southern side, which was clumsily demolished at the restoration in 1872. In the chancel pavement is a brass to Nicholas Dixon, the founder, whilst a Gothic altar tomb of Purbeck marble occupies a recess in the north wall. The latter is to the memory of Robert Dacres, of Cheshunt, Privy Councillor to Henry VIII. Other notable monuments are those of Sir Henry Atkins, physician to James I. and Charles, Daniel Dodson and Margaret Lady Whatton, whose virtues are thus recited:
“Fair as an Angel, virtuous as a saint,
Whose beauty and whose grace no art can paint,
Highly belov’d by all and so admir’d,
As much bewail’d when she from hence retir’d,
Her soul so pure from earth to Heaven soar’d,
There to enjoy the God she here enjoy’d,” etc.
Between the nave and chancel on either side is a curious ornamental opening pierced through the wall. What purpose these served it is hard to determine. In the tower chamber, which has a beautiful vaulted roof, is the ancient octagonal font of Purbeck marble, as well as the very old alms chest or poor man’s box, with three fine hasps and locks, and strongly bonded with iron. In the churchyard stand a large square tomb, the burial place of the Cromwell family for several generations.
The Cromwells held Cheshunt Park, which lies a little less than a mile north of the church, beyond Flamstead End. This pleasant little hamlet would seem by its name to furnish another link with Saxon times, for Flamstead in Anglo-Saxon would mean “place of refuge.”
The manor of Cheshunt Park originally belonged to the Crown, but was purchased by Sir William Cecil in 1570, and became merged in the manor of Theobalds. It was seized with other Crown lands by the Parliament in 1650, and then leased to William Groff. Thence it passed to the Cromwells and Russells. Mrs. Russell was the last person who bore at birth the name of Cromwell, through direct male descent. Her father, Oliver, great-grandson of Henry, son of the Protector, was very desirous of leaving his name to his son-in-law, and applied several times for the royal licence for Mr. Russell to assume it. But the king, George III., always refused, saying, “No! no! No more Oliver Cromwells!” There is a plan of the park made in connection with a survey in 1611, in the British Museum, and it is therein stated to be “in length just 3 myles and in circuit along the paile 8 myle lack 30 poles.”
At the northern extremity of the parish, along the high road, lies the hamlet of Turnford, still a picturesque little spot, though now given over to the builder and market gardener. Scores of acres of glasshouses exist here. In early times, however, the famous nunnery of the Benedictines extended along the eastern side of the road here. At the Dissolution this, with other lands in the parish, fell into the possession of that “old land grabber,” as a Herts antiquary has dubbed Sir Anthony Denny. Nothing now remains of the nunnery.
Cheshunt Street contains a good many interesting examples of old domestic architecture. There is rather a curious structure here known locally as the Round House, which has been in the family of the present owner since the time of Elizabeth. It was built by a descendant of one of Elizabeth’s sea captains, who was engaged in the seven years’ war. He settled down here, and called it Effingham Place.
The heights of Cheshunt
The highlands of Cheshunt are all of a beautiful character, and the climate of these elevated situations is particularly healthful, the air being clear and bracing. To the north lie Hammond Street, Appleby Street, and the beautiful sylvan hamlet of Beaumont Manor; to the west is the pleasant old village of Goff’s Oak, with pretty Newgate Street beyond, and the noble domain of Wood Green Park adjacent. More to the north is the picturesque old hamlet of Cuffley, to the curative waters of whose well King James frequently repaired. From Cuffley one may enjoy a very fine view of the Lea Valley and the richly timbered undulations of Epping Forest. The little place is effectually cut off from the affairs of ordinary civilisation, and is as isolated as a hamlet in the heart of Warwickshire.